Cross-references in printed doc

Question

I am thinking about converting a FrameMaker book to RoboHelp,
where I can generate it as CHM or PDF. But I don't want to lose the
page numbers in cross references. RoboHelp seems to convert them to
hyperlinks, which are included in the resulting printed
documentation (DOC). But I would really like to include page number
references as well in the final PDF. Has anyone found a way to do
this?

Answer 1

There's no easy way to do this. RH doesn't include any
sequence that will convert to a cross-reference in Word, and
inserting multiple cross-references in Word isn't as easy as
executing a find-and-replace command. The best workaround I've
found so far is this:
1. In your RH doc, include a reference that is easily
distinguished from other text. For example, "For information on
Project Beta, see page BETA."
2. Generate the Word document.
3. Find the first instance of "BETA."
4. Insert a cross-reference to the page number of the Beta
heading.
5. Toggle the field code.
6. Copy the field.
7. Find the next instance of your special text ("BETA" in
this example).
8. Paste the field reference.
9. Repeat this process until you're finished.
Unfortunately, the field code references change each time you
generate the document. Equally unfortunately, Word won't recognize
regular braces and text as a field code reference - you have to use
the Ctrl+F9 sequence to generate them manually. So you can't just
generate the document, insert the first cross-reference, and then
replace "BETA" with {PAGEREF _Ref### \h} across your entire
document - it won't work. Instead, you must visit each reference
and paste the field code sequence manually.
If someone else can improve on this process, I'm sure a lot
of people would be happy. If not, it's the easiest workaround I've
seen here, so you might find it useful.